Wyoming

Wyoming, the forty-fourth state
admitted to the American Union, derives its name from the Delaware
Indian word "Maughwauwama", signifying mountains with
large plains between. It lies between 41 degrees and 45 degrees N.
lat. and 27 degrees and 34 degrees long. west of Washington; it is
bounded by Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and
Idaho. Its length from east to west is 355 miles and width from
north to south, 276 miles. It includes an area of 97,883 square
miles, a territory equal to that of the two States of New York and
Pennsylvania, or greater than all of the New England states
combined.

I. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

In general appearance the topography
is mountainous with valleys, rolling plains, and broad plateaux.
The mountains have a genreal diretion from north-west to
south-east, but are not continuous across the state, presenting
more often the appearance of broken or detached spurs. The main
range of the Rocky Mountains entering from the south terminates in
the Wind River Range and is snow-capped throughout the year, the
elevation being from 6000 to 14,000 feet. Other ranges are the Big
Horn, Owl, Rattle Snake, Medicine Bow, Sierre Madre, Teton,
Yellowstone, and the Blak Hills extending into the state from
South Dakota on the eastern border. The highest peak is Fremont's
Peak in the Wind River Range, 13,790 feet. Other high points are
Teton Peak, 13,690 feet, and Clouds Peak, 13,691 feet. Numerous
rivers including the Yellowstone, Big Horn, Snake, Green,
Cheyenne, Belle Fourche, and Powder have their head-waters within
the state. The North Platte and Big Laramie enter the state from
Colorado. None of these streams is navigable in a commercial
sense, but their flow is utilized for irrigatin and in some
instances for the transportation of timber. There are several
important lakes, including Yellowstone, Jackson, Shoshoni, Lewis,
Madison, and Fremont. The state abounds in beautiful scenery.
Great natural parks encircled by wooded slopes and majestic peaks,
with numerous mountain streams, lakes, and waterfalls, form
attractive features. The Yellowstone National Park, set apart by
Act of Congress as a public pleasure ground, has an area of 3575
square miles, and is mainly in Wyoming, extending slightly into
Idaho and Montana. It represents a wonderland of geological
phenomena, mineral springs, spurting geysers, lakes, and
woodlands. The streams of he state are well stocked with game
fish; game animals, particularly elk, deer, and antelope, are
plentiful in the unsettled mountain districts. The climate is dry,
healthful, and invigorating with a maximum of sunshine, and while
the temperature and annual rainfall vary in different localities
according to the elevation and the influence of mountain chains,
the summers are cool and the winters are not severe. The average
mean temperature for the year is 44 degrees. Winds prevail during
portions of the winter and spring seasons, but cyclones and
tornadoes are unknown. Owing to the dryness of the atmosphere,
degrees of temperature do not express the extremes of heat and
cold peculiar to lower and more humid localities.

II. POPULATION

The census of 1910 shows a total
population of 145,965, an increase of 57.7 per cent since the last
census report in 1900. The immigration during the past decade has
been principally from the middle west, generally following the
parallels, but prior to that time the cattle industry had
attracted a large percentage from the southwest. Only a small per
cent of the population is of foreign birth, and but two per cent
illiterate. Wyoming, according to population, contributed a larger
percentage of volunteer soldiers to the service of the Government
during the Spanish-American War than any other state, and was the
first state to report troops mustered in and ready for service.
Cheyenne, the state capital, is the largest city, and Sheridan,
Laramie, Rock Springs, Rawlins, Evanston, Basin, Cody, Casper,
Lander, and Douglas are among the larger towns.

III. RESOURCES

Mining and live stock, with a rapidly
increasing agricultural development as an incident to the latter,
are the leading industries.

Mining

The mineral resources consist of
coal, oil, gas, iron, asbestos, gold, silver, and copper, the
development of which has been greatly hindered for lack of
sufficient transportation. Extensive coal deposits are known to
underlie a large area. Rock Springs, Hanna, Kemmerer,
Diamondville, Sheridan, Newcastle, Hudson, and Kirby are coal
mining centres. The coal output for 1910 was 7,385,764 tons, with
a valuation of $11,573,479; the product being lignite and
sub-bituminous. Iron ore is mined extensively at Sunrise; the
output for 1910 being 735,423 tons. Oil fields of wide extent are
being developed in the northern, central, and extreme western
portions of the state, and extensive pipe lines for the
transportation of the product are now in process of construction.
Natural gas has been discovered in the vicinity of Basin and
Greybull and is used there for heating and lighting. Gold, copper,
and asbestos mines have been opened, but reliable statistics as to
the amount and value of their product have not been compiled.

Agriculture and Live Stock

The soil of the plateaux and bench
lands is a light sandy loam, that of the valleys is of a black
alluvial character, both showing remarkable fertility under
irrigation in the production of wheat, oats, rye, barley,
potatoes, field peas, sugar beets, forage crops, apples, pears,
and the different varieties of small fruits and vegetables known
in the temperate zones, the yield and quality being in some
instances remarkable. A yield of 974 bushels of potatoes per acre
in Johnson County, a yield of 132 bushels of oats produced on one
acre in Sheridan County, and a yield of 8.5 tons of alfalfa per
acre for three successive years in Laramie County being
well-authenticated examples. It is estimated that 10,000,000 acres
within the state may be cultivated successfully by irrigation.
Irrigation development has made rapid strides in recent years, and
millions of dollars are expended by the United States Government
and by private investors under the supervision ofthe state in the
construction of canals and great storage reservoirs. In 1910, 76
irrigation projects were under construction within the state.
Another 10,000,000 acres may be made productive by methods of soil
mulch or "dry farming", a modern system of soil
treatment that has produced good crop results in the semi-arid
regions. The non-irrigated lands are being rapidly settled. The
timbered area occupies about 10,000,000 acres in the mountain
regions, most of which is included in Government forest reserves,
and the manufactures of lumber, railroad, and mine timbers is
carried on in these reserves under concessions from the United
States Government. The reserves are also used by stock men under
lease for summer grazing. Most of the remaining territory of the
state is admirably adapted to the grazing of live stock. In their
natural condition the plains and foot hills are generally covered
with a short succulent grass, furnishing excellent pasture for
live stock. This grazing area comprises from 20,000,000 to
30,000,000 acres, and as it is used in connection with
agricultural lands guarantees the stability of the live-stock
industry, which according to statistics for 1910 shows: cattle
546,447 head, valuation $13,024,349; sheep 4,211,441 head,
valuation $19,895,643.50; horses 119,576 head, valuation
$5,450,795; swine 15253 head, valuation $73,476; mules and asses
1862 head, valuation $114,500. The wood product of 1910 had an
approximate valuation of $8,000,000.

Transportation and Communication

There are thirteen separate lines of
railroad, with a mileage of 2200, in operation by the Union
Pacific, Burlington, Northwestern, Colorado and Southern, Oregon,
Short Line, Saratoga and Encampment, Hahn's Peak, Colorado and
Wyoming, and allied companies; twenty-nine telephone companies,
chief among them being the Mountain States Telegraph and Telephone
system, with lines aggregating 3900 miles; three telegraph
companies with lines covering 2391 miles. Numerous stage lines are
in operation between points in the interior, and nearly every
rural community is served with a free delivery of mail matter.

Manufactures

The manufacturing interests include
lumber, and timber products, saddles and harness, tobacco, boots
and shoes, flour and grist, lime, cement, brick, malt, dairy
products, and railroad supplies, some one of more lines of which
are carried on in all of the towns, but reliable statistics as to
output, capital, and persons employed are not available.

IV. EDUCATION

Public education is provided by a
system of graded public schools, supported by a tax levied upon
property within each district, and a per capita
distribution made according to an annual enumeration of pupils, of
the annual interest income from the permanent school funds and
rentals from school lands. High schools are established by the
districts in all of the larger towns; under a special law two or
more districts are enabled to unite in the formation of a high
school district by an affirmative vote of qualified electors on
the question, and thereby maintain a high school. this plan makes
it possible for a number of districts in sparsely settled counties
to combine their resources in the establishment of a high school
which is supported by a special tax. School attendance by children
between the ages of six and fourteen years is compulsory, and
penalties are prescribed for truancy or parental neglect in the
matter of school attendance. In 1910 there were 1109 teachers
employed in the state, and the total enrolment of pupils was
24,584. The district tax revenues for that year were $739,668.88
and the earnings and income from 3,456,999 acres of school land
were $150,212.91. Other public school revenues are derived from a
percentage of the receipts from government land sales and the
income from forest reserves paid to the state by direction of
Congress. The state university is situated at Laramie, and
includes a graduate school, colleges of liberal arts, agriculture,
and engineering. A normal school and departments of music
commerce, home economies, and university extension are also
maintained. The number of professors employed is 45, and 307
students were reported in attendance in 1910. The institution is
supported by state tax, a land income fund, and certain annual
donations made by the Government pursuant to Acts of Congress for
the promotion of instruction in agriculture and the mechanic arts.
A convent (boarding, and parochial school), was established at
Cheyenne in 1886 by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus at a cost
of $50,000. This institution has passed through the vicissitudes
of early pioneering and grown to a prosperous condition, the
average attendance being about 200. Jesuit Fathers established a
mission school for Indian boys at St. Stephens on or about the
same date, and Catholic sisters also conduct a mission school for
Indian girls on the Shoshoni Reservation.

V. STATE INSTITUTIONS

Indigent poor are cared for and
supported by the counties of their residence. The State maintains:
a hospital for the insane at Evanston; a home for feeble-minded
and epileptic persons at Lander; an institution for blind, deaf,
and dumb at Cheyenne; a soldiers' and sailors' home at Buffalo;
and general state hospitals at Rock Springs, Sheridan, and Casper.
A state sanitarium is provided at Thermopolis, where a square mile
of land surrounding mineral springs of great medicinal value has
been granted to the state by the United States Government. The
state penitentiary is situated at Rawlins, and an appropriation
has been made for a reformatory to be located hereafter by a vote
of the people. There are laws providing for the incorporation of
charitable, educational, and religious societies, including
cemetery associations; and charitable bequests are not forbidden
by statute.

VI. GENERAL LEGISLATION

Freedom in the exercises and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship is guaranteed to
every person by the constitution, with the sole qualification that
the liberty of conscience thus secured shall not excuse
licentiousness, nor justify practices inconsistent with the peace
and security of the state. This qualification was undoubtedly
inserted to prevent the practice of polygamy as a possible
incident to Mormon settlement in the state. The disturbance of
religious worship is made punishable as a misdemeanour. Sunday
observance prevails generally throughout the state, and places of
business with a few exceptions are required to be closed on
Sunday. The first day of January, twelfth and twenty-second days
of February, thirtieth day of May, fourth of July, the date
appointed by the president as the annual Thanksgiving Day,
twenty-fifth of December, dates upon which general elections are
held, and Arbor Day are declared holidays by statute; and if a
legal holiday falls on Sunday the following day shall be the
holiday. The use of profane or obscene language is punishable as a
misdemeanour. A statutory form of oath is prescribed, concluding
with the words "So help me God", and persons having
conscientious scruples against taking an oath may affirm under the
pains and penalties of perjury. The seal of confession is
privileged. Church bodies may incorporate for purposes of
administration. Property used exclusively for religious worship,
church parsonages, and all denominational school property are
exempt from taxation. Ministers of the Gospel of all denominations
are exempt from jury service. The marriage ceremony may be
performed by any judge, district court commissioner, justice of
the peace, or licensed or ordained minister of the Gospel. No
particular form of ceremony is required other than an express
declaration in the presence of an ordained minister or magistrate
and witnesses. Desertion of wife and children is a felony. Causes
for divorce are: adultery; incompetency; conviction of a felony,
and sentence to imprisonment therefor after marriage; conviction
of felony or infamous crime before marriage, provided it was
unknown to the other party; habitual drunkenness; extreme cruelty;
intolerable indignities; neglect to provide common necessities;
vagrancy of the husband; and pregnancy of the wife before marriage
if without knowledge of he husband. The plaintiff must reside in
the state for one year immediately preceding his or her
application for divorce, unless the parties were married in the
state and the applicant has resided there since the marriage.
Neither party is permitted to remarry within one year after a
decree of divorce.

A married woman can hold, acquire,
manage, and convey property, and carry on business independent of
her husband. When a husband or wife dies intestate one half of the
property ofthe deceased goes to the survivor if there be children
and one half to the children collectively. If there be no
children, nor descendants of any child, three-fourths of the
estate goes to the survivor. If there be no children nor
descendants of any child, and the estate does not exceed $10,000,
the whole of it goes to the survivor. Except as above, the estate
of an intestate descends to his children surviving and the
descendants of his children who are dead. If there be no children
nor their descendants, then to his father, mother, brothers, and
sisters, and to the descendants of brothers and sisters who are
dead. If there be no children nor their descendants, nor father,
mother, brothers, sisters, nor descendants of them, then to the
grandfather, grandmother, uncles, aunts, and their descendants.
The homestead of a householder who is the head of a family, or any
resident of the state who has attained the age of sixty years, is
exempt to the value of $1500 from execution or attachment arising
from any debt contracted or civil obligation incurred other than
taxes, purchase money, or improvements so long as it is occupied
by the owner or his or her family. And the exemption inures for
the benefit of the widow or minor children. If the owner be
married the homestead can be alienated only by the joint consent
of the husband and wife. The family Bible, a burial lot, and $500
worth of personal property are likewise exempt to any person
entitled to a homestead exemption. One half of the earnings of a
debtor for his personal services, rendered at any time within
sixty days next preceding a levy of execution or attachment, is
exempt when it is made to appear that such earnings are necessary
for the support of debtor's family residing within the state and
supported in whole or in part by his labours. A day's labour in
mines and in works for the reduction of ore is limited to eight
hours, except in cases of emergency. The sale of intoxicating
liquors is licensed only in incorporated cities and towns.

VII. GOVERNMENT

The state is governed under its first
constitution adopted in November, 1889. Amendments to the
constitution may be proposed by resolution of the legislature and
submitted to a vote of the people, and if approved by a majority
of the electors become a part of the constitution. Suffrage is
conferred upon both men and women. The principle of woman suffrage
was incorporated in the act organizing the territory, and was
carried into the state constitution. Women rarely seek to hold
office, and are disqualified for jury service. On local issues the
vote of women is generally cast on the side of morality and home
protection, but in state policy and legislation no unusual results
are traceable to woman suffrage. The right to vote at general
elections is enjoyed by all citizens of the United States who have
attained the age of 21 years, are able to read the constitution,
and have resided in the state one year, and in the county sixty
days immediately preceding, with the exceptions of idiots, insane
persons, and persons convicted of infamous crimes. General
elections are held biennially in even numbered years, the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and newly-elected
officers assume their duties on the first Monday in the following
January. The governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, and
superintendent of public instruction are elected for terms of four
years, and all other state officers are appointive. The
legislature consists of a senate and a house of representatives,
and meets biennially in odd numbered years, on the second Tuesday
in January, its session being limited to forty days. Each branch
elects a chaplain, who opens the session and each day's
proceedings with prayer. The administration of justice is vested
in a supreme court, district courts, justices of the peace, and
municipal courts. The supreme court consists of three justices
elected by the state at large for a term of eight years. The
supreme court has general appellate jurisdiction of causes tried
in the district courts. The district courts have general original
jurisdiction in all matters of law or equity, and have appellate
jurisdiction of cases arising in justice courts and causes made
appealable from administrative boards. Judges of district courts
are elected by districts for terms of six years.

VIII. RELIGIOUS FACTORS

The state consists of one diocese
with its see at Cheyenne. The Catholic population is estimated
(1910) at about 12,000; churches with resident pastors, 18;
missions with churches, 14; priests, 23. The dissemination of
Catholic doctrine in this region began with the visits of French
fur-traders and trappers during the first half of the eighteenth
century, but there is evidence that Catholic practices had been
introduced among the native tribes prior to that date by Catholic
Iroquois Indians who had drifted west from Canada and New York.
Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, S.J. arrived in Wyoming with an
expedition of the American Fur Company in 1840, and his mission
work among the Indians and scattered white settlements during the
succeeding fifteen years forms an important chapter in the history
of the North-west. Fathers P. De Vos, S.J., and Hoecken, S.J.
Zerbinate, Joset, and Mengarina were among the early missionaries.
In 1851 Wyoming formed a part of the vicariate of the Indian
territory east of the Rocky Mountains which had Rt. Rev. John B.
Miege as vicar apostolic. In 1857 it comprised a part of the
Vicariate of Nebraska and so remained until 1885, when it became a
part of the Diocese of Omaha. It was erected into the Diocese of
Cheyenne, 9 August, 1887,a nd the first bishop Rt. Rev. Maurice F.
Burke, was consecrated on 28 Oct., 1887. He was transferred to St.
Joseph, Missouri, June, 1893, and was succeeded by Rt. Rev. Thomas
Lenihan, whose death occurred on 15 Dec., 1901. Rt. Rev. James J.
Keane, the third bishop of the diocese, was consecrated on 28
Oct., 1902, but in 1911 was made Archbishop of Dubuque. His
administration was attended by much progress in church interests.
The fourth bishop is Rt. Rev. Patrick A. McGovern, appointed on 18
January, 1912, and consecrated on 11 April following. A new
cathedral and bishop's residence have been erected at Cheyenne.
The spiritual needs of the new diocese have been presented in
frequent lecture tours to the faithful in the older communities of
the east; and they have given aid by contributions to a loan fund
plan, whereby numerous mission church buildings have been provided
in new settlements and outlying communities. Colonization has been
encouraged and the work and growth of the Church is in keeping
with the rapid settlement and material advancement of the state.

IX. HISTORY

While there is some evidence that the
early Spanish made expeditions into Wyoming, no written accounts
of their expeditions have been found. The first authentic record
of exploration by white men is that of Sieur de la Verendrye, who
discovered the Yellowstone while in charge of an expedition in the
interest of the French Canadian fur trade in 1743. John Colter, a
member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, was the first American
to enter Wyoming. He discovered Yellowstone Park and explored the
Big Horn and Fremont Country in 1806. General John C. Frémont
explored the central portion of the state, discovered the South
Pass, and established the Overland Trail in 1842. Indian
depredations incident to the California movement in 1849 induced
the Government to establish a number of army posts along the
Platte River, among them Fort Steele, Fort Fetterman, and Fort
Laramie, the latter being an old fur-trading fort first
established in 1834. The Union Pacific Railroad entered in 1867,
and after a few years of Indian warfare, great herds of cattle
trailed in from Texas comprised the chief industry until the early
nineties, when the larger herds commenced to disappear and an era
of ranch settlement began. The State of Wyoming is carved out of
territory obtained from four principal annexations comprising the
main land west of the Mississippi River, viz.: the Louisiana
purchase (1803); the Oregon Country by discovery, settlement, and
treaty (1792, 1805, 1811, 1819, 1846), the Texas annexation
(1845); and the Mexico concession (1848). Its titled interest bear
the imprint of successive periods of purchase, exploration,
discovery, settlement, and conquest. It has in turn formed a part
of the following named territories: Louisiana in 1803; Missouri in
1812; Texas in 1845; Oregon in 1848; Utah in 1850; Nebraska in
1845; Washington in 1859; Dakota in 1861; Idaho in 1863; Dakota in
1864. Organized as Wyoming territory in 1868, it was admitted as a
state, 10 July, 1890.